49ers DE Nick Bosa Is Questionable for Sunday with a Hip Injury

The 49ers might not have their best pass rusher Sunday when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Nick Bosa is listed as questionable with a hip pointer he suffered Wednesday during practice. Then he was "extremely limited" all week according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. On Tuesday, Bosa did individual position drills for roughly 15 minutes then walked off the field and disappeared into the weight room presumably because his hip bothered him.

Which means Bosa may not be healthy enough to play this weekend. Or if he can play, he might not be healthy enough to carry his usual workload or even make it through the entire game.

Through the first half of the season, the 49ers' pass rush has been extremely Bosa-dependent. He currently has 25 pressures while no one else on the team has more than 12. So if he doesn't play against Tampa Bay, Baker Mayfield could have all the time in the world to pick the 49ers defense apart.

Even if Bosa plays, the 49ers will need to be creative to generate a pass rush against an excellent Buccaneers offensive line. Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen will have to scheme up pressure from unexpected places. Have we seen him blitz a nickelback or a corner yet? Robert Saleh used to do that every game when he was the 49ers defensive coordinator.

One way or another, the 49ers pass rush can't depend solely on one player. Other people need to step up.

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